Awakening Wednesday: Dry Skin Solutions for Women

Recently, my spouse commented over dinner that her skin was abnormally dry. Since our family is deeply into the

A woman’s dry skin can be the result of many causes.

art of formulating unique skin care solutions for “active person skin issues” such as dry skin, eczema, etc., the very thought that a family member might have a dry skin problem was not what I ever expected to hear! Kind of like the old adage of the “cobbler’s children having no shoes to wear”. In this instance, we needed to focus on dry skin solutions for women and do it quickly (or I would be in big trouble with my own spouse)!

Maryann is in her mid-60’s and Autumn was starting to set in, so there could be numerous forces in play. First, the weather. We live the San Francisco Bay Area, so it really never gets very cold, and with California’s ongoing drought, it sure ain’t cold this year. So we had to scratch the most likely cause of dry skin — the onset of winter — as improbable.

Given her age, menopause and all of the mischief that life-change can wreak could be an issue, if not “the” issue. But Maryann’s dry skin issue seemed to have arisen well beyond the onset of hot flashes and all of the other joys of hormones in transition. So we classified age as a ‘contributory’ factor, but not ‘the’ factor.

Given that she is a member of our family and therefore is full habituated to the daily use of the great mineral-based, vegan skin care creams and lotions that we make, her dry skin for sure hadn’t arisen because Maryann was neglecting her skin. In truth, what she was calling ‘dry skin’ upon inspection most likely would be considered ‘normal mature skin’ by the rest of humanity! In any case, she felt the condition was becoming a problem, so we needed a solution.

Any new cleaning products being used? Nope, only green products. Smoke in the air? Nope, despite the fact that most of California seems to be on fire these days. Changes in diet? Nope, we operate with a really super selection of “good choice” foods. Changes in heredity? Rather hard to make changes in heredity after one has been born! Post-partum body shock? Not hardly; unless a biblical level of fertility suddenly had come into play!

My Mom, Mima Hardwicke (right) at age 96 with her cousin.

So, with most of the usual suspects for dry skin ruled out, we consulted our 5th edition of Prescription of Nutritional Healing, a telephone book-sized “reference guide for drug-free remedies using vitamins, minerals, herbs & food supplements”. [Ok, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool, multi-generational Californian who was raised by a pair of vitamin freaks: A Mom who lived into her active 101st year of life. and who, thanks to her willingness to serve as Awakening’s guinea pig for skin cream testing, had nearly zero facial wrinkles — the image to the right is of her just after her 96th birthday]. But this book is invaluable. We were introduced to it many years ago by the spouse of a long-standing member of a venerable mens’ motorcyle organization (aka ‘gang’) in neighboring Oakland, CA — motorcycling gentlemen who had fallen in love with our non-greasy, non-leather-marring hand therapy balm, Awakening HANDS.

Listed in the book’s section on ‘dry skin’, nutrients affecting the condition were categorized into a hierarchy of three classes: “Very Important”, “Important” and “Helpful”.

Sure enough, Maryann and I found that about 10 months prior, she had backed off taking two nutrients, Primrose oil (500 mg daily) and Vitamin A (25,000 IU daily) — both considered as “Very Important” in avoiding dry skin. When we looked at the nutrients she was taking daily, it turned out that Vitamin A was only 12,500 IU and that Primrose oil wasn’t being taken at all.

Consequently, with Primrose oil and the full 25,000 IU of Vitamin A added across her morning and evening supplements, and with her applying a thin layer of Awakening BODY to her entire body twice daily, and Awakening FACE&Neck applied each morning, Maryann’s dry skin issue has nearly disappeared after only two weeks. My guess is that in another month, her skin will be totally hydrated and smooth even with the onset of slightly colder winter weather.

Of course, body and skin chemistry are different for every one of us, and there are times when consulting a health practitioner about a skin problem is the best course of action. Taking food supplements and vitamins are a way of life for us, but, for example, Vitamin A is one of those substances that can be toxic if taken in too large a dosage, so we always error on the side of too little rather than too much. This sort of precaution is even more important if it’s a child who’s experiencing the skin problem.

The lesson we (re)learned with Maryann’s sudden shift towards dry skin? Skin condition causes are multifaceted: They are a combination of heredity (an inclination towards psoriasis, for example), vitamin deficiency (as in Maryann’s shortage of Primrose oil’s linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid needed by the skin, and Vitamin A with its mixed carotenoids which strengthen and protect skin tissue), poor nutrition (just try living with a diet high in refined sugar and salty-crunchy junk foods and see what happens to your skin!!), and the use of natural skin care products, such as those that we make here at Awakening.

Just want to introduce myself: I’m Rob Hardwicke, the President and Product Master of Awakening Skin Care. The goal of this blog is to be a participatory voice on issues that affect us all when it comes to skin care.
All of us have skin (a profound observation!). All of us are living longer and longer (or at least some of us). Therefore, since we’ll be occupying this skin of ours for a good many years, we might as well make the most of it. This means taking care of our skin. READ MORE ABOUT ROB HARDWICKE